THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published bi-monthly by The State Historical Society of Colorado
Vol. XX Denver, Colorado, May, 1943 No. 3
Memoirs of Marian Russell
MRS. HAL RUSSELL*
It is my desire that these memoirs may preserve to posterity my recollections of an unforgettable period in American history, when sturdy pioneers blazed trails across a lost and lovely land the land that the Santa Fe Trail "·ound through so long, long ago. Across the buffalo grass the old 'l'rail fimYed like a mighty, slow moving river. The way that I haYe travelefl stretches Yery far behind me. Almost forgotten are the brambles and sharp stones that once were there. It is, they say, in the little incidents of life, not in the great results, that the interest of existence lies. For that reason, ·will you bear with me if, at times, I stray from the main issue to linger \Yistfully over some cherished personal remembrance. Dear to me is the memory of dust that swirled away behind a lumbering herd of buffalo; of curlews dipping in a moist meadow; or, perhaps, of cows that ambled slowly to a milking place. I am the third and last child of William and Eliza St. Clair Sloan. I am of Scottish descent, named after Lady 1\Iarian \Val lace, whose tragic story touched my mother's heart. I was born in Peoria, Illinois, on January 26, 1845. The first child of my parents' union died in infancy. The next, my brother, William, lived to manhood and shared with me many of the incidents of which I write. M:y father, an army surgeon in the l\Iexican \Var, was killed at the battle of Monterey. Ile passed from my life at such an early age that I have no remembrance of him. An old daguerreotype *This manuscript is the joint production of l\Iarian Russell and her daughter in-law, Mrs. Hal Russell of Weston, Colorado. SeYeral years before Marian Rus Rell's death, which occurred at the age of 91, she began relating the story of h er life to Mrs. Ila! Russell, who wrote and submitted each page to her mother-in-law for criticism and reYi~ion. Marian Rusi;ell first traYeled the Santa Fe Trail at the age of seYen, but made the trip in a covered wagon seYeral times. She lived at Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Fort Union, Fort Bascom, Camp Nichols and in the Stonewall Valley west of Trinidad, Colorado. She was an army officer's bride at Camp Nichols, built by Kit Car,;on to guard the Santa Fe caravans. Blessed with unu~mal po"\ver~ of observation and a retentive n1emory, Marian Russell remembered details that few who wrote contemporaneously about the Santa Fe trade haYe given. ThiR is reflected in the color and intimacy of her memoirs. Her husband, the second settler in the Stonewall Valley, gave that beautiful locality its name. With him, Marian Russell went through the dramatic contest between the Maxwell Land Grant Company and the settlers, in which Captain Ru,;sell lost his life. Mr. E. C. McMechen prepared the manuscript for the iirinter and supplied the editorial notes.-Ed. 82 COLORADO MAGAZINE MEMOIRS OF MARIAN RUSSELL 83
shows him in a gaily-flowered waist coat, with long, straight hair The long city street stretches away across an unknown world. and serious eyes like brother -Will's. It beckons me and I follow. Soon the street becomes dreadful and I became so familiar with my mother's face as it was in later unfamiliar, and an almighty and devastating sorrow descends years that I recall her earlier image only " ·ith an effort. She was upon me. I climb white "·ooden steps to an open door, and a a courageous \\-oman, both educated and cultured. One hundred woman's sweet Yoice bids me enter. I eat bread and milk from a years ago educational advantages were difficult to obtain, yet yellow bo"·l. A small gray kitten c:omrs and rubs against me. mother managed to give both -Will and me educations far beyond There were no radio patrol cars in St. l;ouis in the year 1848, the average. and so an old neg1·0 went along the street ringing a bell and call- When I think of those ea1·ly days I always seem to see her standing by a fli('kering campfire in a flounced gingham dress and a great sunbonnet. Behind her looms the bulk of a coYered wagon. Thus my mother comes to me across the years, a small, sturdy little figure erect in the morning sun. From the shadowy background of infanvy l'.Ome pictures of amazing clearness. ~\('ross a rnom of irnma·nilate <'leanliness I send my toddling feet. There is white Chinese matting on the floor, and a stand table across a corner "·hose top I (·annot reach. Guests are in this room: a gentlemau \\·ho pa1·ts his l'.Oattails care fully before sitting down. and a lowly lacly whose silken skirts hillo\\' softly as she ,raJks. This is my tirst remembrance of our home in Ht. Louis, ~t:is sonri. In the back ~·ard lies a i·attlesnake. I haw been told that it is dead because someone has hit it repeatedly with a stick. Yet, out of that dead snake's mouth emerges a great, gTN'n toad that goes hopping away across the sun-baked yard. I think that this memory of the snake and the toad has always inc-lined me to believe a little in ghosts and goblins. ·when one is three the "·orld is a vast. strange place. '!'he veg·etable garden is a "·ild, unexplored jungle 11·here heasts may loiter among the eurrants and the eabhages. The garret is a place \\-e explore only 11·hen we are moved to MRS. MARIAK RUSSELL seek deliberately the bright face of danger. We elimb the narrow Taken in 1891, Roon after the Stonewall tragedy, stairs slowly, stopping often to count the steps behind us. ·we ing: ''Little "-hite chile lost. Have you seen three-year-old peer through the keyhole, seeing nothing but eerie darkness. \Y c push the door ajar at last and stand, sniffi11g the thy musty air Marian Sloan?" So I was found and carried home asleep to until we become accustomed to the shado"·s moving there--such mother, my head on a warm, black neck. great flopping shado,rn. They are like the "·ings of some enor The light pours down upon me. The air is close and heavy mous bat. Our heart beats high in our throat as we adnmce slowly from the breathing of a great audience. I lean my head against inside and stand still, letting the silence and loneliness fill us. mother, sleepily, \\·hen suddenly the curtain goes up and, with a Over our head are great c·ob-webby rafters and, far across the clatter and rattle, little 'l'om Thumb drives out upon the stage. room, is a litter of bundles and hoxes. \\Te retreat and close the He has two Shetland ponies hitched to a small top-buggy and is little door behind us. It requires all our courage not to run down dressed in red velvet and gold tassels. Then a man stands on the the steep steps to safety. vnrnt is this strange thing in the human stage and tells us that Queen Victoria has given the ponies and the heart that causes us to court the unknown and the dangerous? little buggy to tiny Tom Thumb. 84 COLORADO MAGAZINE MEMOIRS OF MARIAN RUSSELL 85
I do wish you could have seen mother's hooped skirts and perched on that eastern bank, "·bile the weste1·11 side was left to snowy pantalettes. Her hoops were never over-large, but the the buffalo. pantalettes were glistening white and stiff with starch. They were We anchored beneath the high bank upon "·hich \ms Port embroidered and ruffled, and anchored above her knees with Snelling, and I remember the tall round to\\·er in the center of the elastic. parade ground. A sentry, "·hose duty \ms to scan the country Sometimes I had to be reminded to say my prayers but ·wm side for bands of roving Indians, was standing there. never did. Across the river from Fort Snelling was an Indian encamp He kneels by his bed across the room from mother's and mine, ment. One could not help noticing how mnch cleaner the Sioux his hair rumpled, and his thin brown neck rising above the collar \\'ere than the Chippell"as. Even from afar the Sioux' brightly of his outing flannel nightshirt. I laugh to see the brown soles of colored blankets contrasted oddly with the Chippe"·as' bedraggled his feet thrust behind him, but mother's glance is a reproof. His clothing. piping voice begins the child's prayer, "Now I lay me." At the Once the Sioux came scampering to the fort for protection, end he hesitates, then adds: with the screaming Chippewas hard upon their heels. All became ''Please God, I want someday to see your face.'' bustle and confusion. A detachment of soldiers "lrns marched out I turn shocked e~·es to mothe1·. Rhe "\\Te made many trips up and down the Mississippi while ·we sand dollars worth of gold with her own hands near Sutter's Fort. lived at Fort Snelling. On one occasion we passed a tall, red cliff Now, grandfather had written that he was coming for us and that called the Maiden's Leap. l\Iother told us the Indian legend of we too might wash out much gold. That was the year of the Winona, the Indian girl who had thrown herself from the precipice cholera epidemic. Grandfather and both his sons died of it and because her lover had proved unfaithful. I saw in imagination were buried in California. The news reached us slowly, because that slendei· girl hurtling clown into the muddy water, and I sometimes wagon trains bearing ne"·s from California were two leaned far oYer to see 'drnther I could see Winona on the river's yearn in crossing the Great Plains. muddy bottom. I did so hope that her lover was Sioux and not a dirty Chippewa. During this period of waiting I attended a Catholic primary Once we camped at the Falls of St. Anthony and step-father school of the Sacred Heart in Kansas City. It pleased me mightily caught a string of cat-fish as yellowish-black as the river in which to learn that the small black curlicues I had puzzled over in books they liYecl. Here we saw caribou coming down to the river's edge really meant something. I learned to write my name in large, to drink, and one old buffalo who swam out to a little island and wavering letters on a slate that was bound in bright red wool. I lay clumsily clown to rest. wore white ruffled pinafores and had a clean ·white handkerchief each morning. 'l'here also was the time when mother and I went down to St. Paul to do some shopping. St. Paul had no paved streets in '49 After school closed in the spring of 1852, mother decided to go to California anyway. IV e left Kansas City and moved to Fort an~l we waded from one store to another, mother holding up the skirt of her long purple dress as she walked. Leavenworth, where immigrant trains assembled for the West. I can still remember how that little city of tents and covered wag As I write I again experience the thrill of leaving Fort Snell ons grew by leaps and bounds on the prairie west of Fort Leaven ing. Orders had come from Vlashington that both Fort Snelling worth. and Prairie du Chien were to be abandoned. All day long the troops had been leaving. In our quarters, trunks, bags and boxes Mother's clearest friend and most ardent admirer was Cap stood open as mother sorted, packed and eliminated. This article tain F. X. Aubry,1 a wagon master running between Leavenworth or that she would place in trunk or bag, while some uffwanted and Santa Fe. We hoped to engage passage in his wagon train. thing she ''"ould toss upon a refuse heap in a corner. Here was a Indians "·ere bad along the trail and Captain Aubry was waiting game of leave and take that my soul yearned to play. Into the for another train to join him. 'l'he more wagons, the greater safety kitchen I marched and unhesitatingly threw my beloved rag doll from Indians. At last a big Government train pulled in from some into a tub of water that had been left standing on the floor. She place farther east and the t\\'O trains made ready for instant de eddied around a bit, gazing at me with soulful, shoebutton eyes. parture. As passeng·ers on the Go,·ernment train we11 e three young Filled with sorrow and compunction, I backed slowly from the men. Two were army officers, "·hile the third was a graduate room, watching spell-bound the little painted face on the 'rnter. doctor from West Point. These men offered mother free transpor tation for herself and her children, as far as Santa Fe in return I stood then with step-father on the steps of the fort, watching for preparation of their meals enroute. She gladly agreed, because as he fitted the great key in the lock. That key must have been the cost of transportation from I1eavenworth to Santa Fe in 1852 fully a foot long and folded in the middle like a giant jack-knifE'. was $250.00, and half that for children. So mother realh· saYed I felt the cool, sweet wind on my face and knew that behind that $500.00 by cooking for the young men. . locked door a little painted face eddied round in a tub of water. Thus, Fort Snelling and the first chapter of my life closed together. During the enforced ·wait at Fort LeaYenworth, \Vill and I had grown to loYe Captain Aubry. He was our Yery good friend. 1 F_rancis Xavier Aubry, explorer and Santa Fe trader, as well as the greatest Of my step-father-"·ho was killed by Indians on a scoutino· long-distance horsebaek rider of his time, was born in Maskinonge Quebec De expedition-I haYe nothing but a sad and hazy memory. I kno'~ cember 4, 1824, and was killed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. August 18. '1854. Aubry waR a man of phenomenal activit~·. ·who found outlet for his energies as a trader that mother, \Vill and I waited t"·o long ~'ears in Kansas City for to Santa Fe. San Antonio, El Paso, Chihuahua, and San Francisco. In 1 854. he pxplored the route along the 35th parallel, seeking at his own expense a railroad (hanclfather Rloan to come for us, but he newr clid. Grandfather route to the Pacific. Aubr;· also laid out the Aubry Trail, a short cut on the S~nta Fe Trail, which ran from present Boise City, Oklahoma. to the Arkansas and his two sons had gone to California -;eYeral years previously, River near the boundary line between present Kearny and Hamilton counties Kansas. This trail traversed present Baca County, Colorado. Named after hi~ and many " ·ere the golden tales they ha ·we took our childish 'Yoes to him for solace visitell him in his of them, ·rolling and swaying along the old 1 mil. Thus did the great covered wagon and were treated as wek~me guests. He told heart and soul of a great nation strain to reach its western frontier. us that Indians were thick as hops along the trail, and that we Then there were the Great Plains, the beautiful plains that are must promise him neYer to stray far from the camp. Gradually gone forever. A vast open country it was, with not an upturned we came to know that everyone was torn between joy at rnakil1g sod, lying under the blue sky like a mighty silver sea. the gTeat overland trip and terror of the Indians. Our trail led us among herds of buffalo so numerous that at '!.'he dreaded cholera was raging in Fort Learnnworth that times we were half afraid. Running north an our wagon tongue searching for something inside. She turned As I write, scenes of the old trail come flooding back to me. and, seeing the splendor, sat down in speechless delight. Will, Places where the earth ''"as like a Persian rug, the curly gray who was busy building our little cooking fire, said: "There is green of the buffalo grass mingling with the lavender, yello"· and always a pot of gold at the rainbow's end.'' red fio,Yers of early autumn. vVe all sought the scanty shade of "Mother, is it really true~" I asked. Sitting perched at the the wagons when we ate our noon-day meal. The sweaty mules wagon's mouth, her loYely eyes on the gTeat red arch, she an rolled over and oYer in the grass, delighted to be free from the swered. ''They say so, child.'' heavy wagons. The tired drivers lay ''"ith their hats covering "'l'he end of the rainbo11· is only a little way before us. \Ye their faces as they slept. Babies were born as our wagons lum need only climb to the top of the little green hill ahead of us '' I said delightedly. ' bered westward. Death sometimes came and then graves were made over which clanking wheels "·ould pass to obliterate traces. "It does not rest on the green hill, dear. It is very, very far Graves must not be discovered by Indians. awa~r. I think it rests in California at a place called Sutter's F'ort and we shall find it there,'' she said. For vears I really thou"'ht At night our wagons were spread out in a great circle. Ropes the end of the rainbow was indeed in Califo;·nia. . <- were stretched behreen them. Inside the enclosure thus formed There were other things that lifted our eyes to the skies; the the mules "·ere turned loose to graze. Soon tents were pitched gray day when we saw the wild geese flying south was one. and cooking fires were blazing. The two trains camped about a Myriads of honking birds streamed onrhead. The very sky was quarter of a mile apart and thus our camp "·as marked by two full of beating wings. Even today I seem lo sec them sailing down great circles on the plains. :;,\!any slept in tents, as the wagons the vast corridors of the clouds. were loaded and crowded. I believe the drivers always slept Our "·agon driYer was Pierre, a swarthy Frenchman, who under the wagons. Each night our little dark tent raised protect reminded me so much of old Antony that I "·as disappointed to ing wings over us where mother had spread our bed upon the learn that not one story could he tell. In fact, his education must matted grass. Sometimes in the dark night I would hear the have been sadly neglected, for of not one g·host or goblin did he coyote's eerie cry and would shiYer and creep close to mother. have personal knowledge. Pierre almost always walked; yet at The spell the prairies cast upon my child soul is on my heart times he sat s'Yinging booted feet out over the dashboard, peril tonight. ously close to the brown mules' shining hips. Sometimes he sang Between the t"·o night circles ''"as ahYays a lovely bit of no or talked to the mules in French, or conversed with mother in man's-land where children from both caravans met to play and to broken English. His limp black hat turned straight up in front. gather wild flowers. I remember a species of "·hite poppy that His blue shirt was clotted thickly with tiny white stars. His dark bloomed only at night. To me these poppies "·ere a fascination, eyes "·ere hawk eyes and his nose a great heak. The tobacco he great white blossoms opening only "·hen the evening shadows fell. used smelled to high heaven, yet we knew our Pierre was a simple, One evening I lingered long in little 110-man's-land :filling m~- arms kindly man. with the white flowers. Above me glo,Yecl the lights of Captain Our 'vagon was packed with boxes and hales of freig·ht. Only Aubry's train, "·hile helow on the slope lay the huddled circle of the high spring seat was left for :Jfother, Will and me. Back ~f the Government train. As the candles were lighted I sa"· the the. seat and on top of the freight was our bedding and camp conical tents a blaze like Chinese lanterns. The night wind brought eqmpment. The food and cooking utensils were stored in a great the sound of Yoices and of laughter. Then mother came and called box at the rear of the 1rngon a bit like the chnek boxes of later to me, an anxious note in her YOice. I should like to stand again day cow camps. Two blaekened iron kettles and a "·ater pail huno· between the great camp circles on the hill, my arms full of white from the running gears underneath. :\Iother usually sat Yer~ flo\\'ers. Could I but see again the moon mist over all that silYery erect on the spring sea1, her small fa\·r ro"~ in the gray depth o.f land. Could I but hear ag-ain :\!other's sweet lost Yoice calling me. her sun-bonnet. She burned in the prail'iP -;un . Often she knitted Often we gathered around the fires while the men told stories as the wagon humped along. \Vhen 1 tin'il of -;it ting by hrr. or of of strange new lands. tales of 'gold and of Indians. The women running to keep up with \\'ill and l'i1•1Tr . I " ·ould c-rawl haek sat, their long skirts drawn up owr a sleeping- child in their laps. among the bundles and hlankets. wlwn• J "ould pla~· with my doll Behind us loomed the dark hulks of the covered wagons; overhead 01· fall asleep. brooded the midnight sky. 92 COLORADO MAGAZINE MEMOIRS OF MARIAN RUSSELL 93 When bed-time came the women and children dispersed qui were roping and harnessing the mules. Through partially closed etly; the men rose and began to stretch their arms. Two of them tent-flaps the women could be seen slipping their dresses on over were chosen each night to stand guard "·hile the others slept. their heads. Children cried at being forced out from under the These two men, rifles in hand, circled and re-circled the big corral. warm covers. I found it hard to button all the buttons that ran .c\t midnight tlrn others took their places. EYery precaution was up and clown the back of my little dress with fingers that were blue maintained that we should not be surprised by the Indians. with cold. Dressed and out in the sunshine, 1rn were always happy Captain Aubry and mother had kno"·n each other for many again for there, stretched out before ns, lay a brand new 11"01·lc1 years, although I do not know when their friendship first began. under a turquoise sky. Sun-bonnets bobbed merrily oYer the eook Lle always called her "Eliza," speaking the name slo"·ly as if he ing fires and on the crisp air floated a sme11 of coffee. loved saying it. Mother did not like to be called "Lizzie" and Packing "·as done S\1·iftly. :\Iules ,,·ere hitched to the 1rngons, sometimes the Captain would call her that and then mother would a swift glance given to see that nothing was left behind, and we turn upon him fiercely. 'l'he laughter would leap and sparkle in were off for another day on the westward trail. Drivers were call Captain Aubry's eyes, and watching him I a1'rnys laughed too. ing, "Get up there. Come along boys." So111e"·bere along the One windy night Captain .. '..ubry came to help drive our tent line a whip snapped, the heavy wagons groaned and the great stakes deeper into the ground. Sparks were beginning to fly from wheels began a steady creaking. our tiny cooking fire that mother endeavored to keep ever so small. Our two trains had together a herd of ahont two hundred She stood stamping at the sparks as they lighted in the grass, sun loose horses. This herd always brought up the rear of the caravan. bonnet laid aside, the w-ind blowing tendrils of her hair across her Among these horses was a big white stallion belonging to Captain face, that soft black hair in a heavy Psyche anchored with four Sturgis. This loYely animal always led the herd. The horses we1·e bone hair-pins low on her neck. Her little feet were in heavy held at night outside the circle of wagons and night herd was rid. brogans, her dress was long and dark. \Vil] lay close by the littl~ den over them. After we had hcen a few weeks on the trail \\·e fire, fast asleep. He always 1rnlked more than he should and at reached a place called Pawnee Rock. the scene of a bloody Indian night was too tired to play. When Captain ~\ubry finished his massacre a few years before. Extra precaution \\·as taken that task he came and took me on his lap. Sitting there in the shelter night and a double sentry placed over the horse herd. In the night of his arms, I felt the great windy night closing down upon us; 'rn were rudely awakened by the sound of Indian war \\·hoops close was conscious of the night wind and the Yast turbulent prairie at hand. The mules in the enclosure screamed and our tent stretching away into infinity. The world seemed to me so big ancl swayed as if coming down on our heads. ~:\11 became bedlam, the black and terrible. I shivered in the Captain's arms. thinking that mules were running like mad among the tents and from somewhere only here where the fire light flickered on mother's face was outside came the shrill 1rnighing of the Sturgis stallion. ·warmth and comfort and home. \\Then morning broke our herd of horses 1rns gone. 'l'he Jn 'fhere 1rns another time when \Vill cried with the earache and dians had stampeded them and driYen them off. Captain Aubry Captain Aubry hlew smoke in his ear until the pain died a1vay and would not go to Fort rnion "·ithout our assignment of horses, so \Vill slept. Once on that trip Captain Auh1·y made a ,,·ill EMERSON X. BARKER* \¥hen the long-a1rnited transcontinental airmail service was announced in 1920, residents of the Centennial State learned they "·ere not to be upon the main line of communication bet\men the East and \Yest. As in the clays of the "Pike's Peakers," when the important through mails 'vere carried onr the Central Route, the ne'v mail line \YaS routed north of Colorado. Tn fact, the air plane 'ms charted over a route that approximatecl-\\·est of the :\iissouri River-that of the great overland mail and the pon~· express of sixty )"ears before. Transcontinental airmail service was inaugurated September 7. 1920, over a route that began in New York, crossed the Missouri at Omaha, touched Cheyenne, Salt T~ake Cit~·, Elko and Reno. and ended at San Prancisco. 1 •l\ir. Barker, member of the State Historical Society and the Denver Stamp Cluh, has interested himself in the po~tal histon· of Colorado. ·-Ed. 1 The Amei·ic ' Ibid .. page 14~ . 3D en ver P ost. '.\ fa~ 31. 1 n6. 'Ibid. "Ibid. 98 COLORADO MAGAZINE TRADER W'ITH THE UTES; MURDER OF CHIEF SHAVANO 99 plane from Cheyenne. The motor wheezed and died, and could not p. m., and a tremendous crowd \Yas on hand, variously estimated at be revived. ten to forty thousand. "It "·as an epoch-making landing and The southbound mail was hastily transferred to plane I\o. JO hardly a person in the gigantic crowd but realized they were see and its pilot, Eddie Brooks, "·as on his way to Colorado Spring~ ing a new page written in Colorado history.' " 0 seconds before nine o'clock. The City of Sunshine was reached Denver folks, however, were at the airfield to haYe fun with the mail was left, and Pilot J. H. Cordner was on his way t~ their history, and they were not disappointed. ''The crowd was Pueblo. entertained ... by a pageant of the evolution of the mail service, Pilot Cordner reached Pueblo at 11 :05 a. m. ''Thousands in which cowboy riders carried the mail just as did the pony attended the initial ceremonies at the airport. An auto parade, express riders of old, transferring it to a stagecoach which in turn <'Omplete \Yith band, started from Mineral Palace Park to the field carried it across the prairie to the waiting plane. at 2 p. m. There was a brief stop at the postoffice, where the first "Unique air stunts in which Diavolo Steiner defied the po,Yer shipment of airmail was loaded on government trucks. of gravity with feats of wing-walking and traper.e stunts followed; ''In com1ection with the inauguration ... of the airmail serv later he dropped from the plane in a parachute.... Members of ice, C. \\T. Pfaffenberger, postoffice inspector commended Frank four Indian tribes, the Denver & Rio Grande Western band and 11 S. Hoag and P. A. Gray, Pueblo Commerce' Club members for the G. A. R. fife and drum corps added further entertainment. " securing the service for Pueblo."6 ' Among the thousands were Governor :Morley, Mayor Staple \Vi th an eye on the schedule, 7 Pilot Cordner headed his plane ton, };'rank Crane, president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce; northward for the return flight. J. E. Loiseau, chairman of the airmail committee of the Chamber, and many other civic leaders. At Colorado Springs, Pilot Cordner was given an on ti on by Before the fanfare had subsided, Pilots E. J_;. Curtis, who had fifteen thousand persons, ''doubtless the largest gatherino· cYer 0 flown the first lap from Cheyenne to Denver in the mon1ing', and assembled in the Pike's Peak region. " 8 Clarence Braukman took off on the last link to complete Colo The mail plane had been preceded into the airpOl't by an rado's first airmail chain. Two planes were required to handle the eseort bearing l\Iajor Dayton, commander of the air force of the large volume of mail that had accumulated. Colorado National Guard; Secretary of State Carl S. Milliken and Pilots Curtis and Braukman were given a rousing welcome aviation enthusiasts. Included in the throng were "leading Cham when they arrived in Cheyenne at 7 :20 p. m. ber of Commerce and other civic personages," but "formal According to Postoffice Department records, revenue col speeches were forgotten as enthusiastic officials and exuberant lected on the southbound planes amounted to $774, while that of aviators gripped hands and shouted in each other's ears. " 0 the northboulld trips totaled $1,294. Colorado Airways collected Li~tle time for ceremony " ·as allowed the airmail aviator, 80 per cent, in accordance with the contract.12 operatmg on schedule, and his plane left the g-round five minutes after it land~cl. l\Iail ~ags ~ad been loaded into the plane during· the ceremomes, and with Pilot Cordner ·on the flight to De1wer 'ms Postmaster E. E. Ewing. The northbound plane landed at the Colorado capital at 6 :Ol --- the ;{'.;~~?..lo Star-Jo"rnal, May 31, 1926, quoted in a letter from BesRie Epps to . 'Associated Press dispatch from ~rashington published in the Rocky 11Ioun- ta1u ]\ieu:s, May 31, J 926: ' OFFICIAL SCHEDULE L Southbound L~~~~ £~':{v~~n·e·::: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : · ...... 5 30 a. rn. Lea Ye Colorado Springs ...... :···· ·········::·::::¥ ~g ~: :;;: Arrive Pueblo ...... :::::::::::: ...... 8 30a.m. Xorthbound LeaveLeave, ColoradoPueblo.. .Springs ...... · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 4 15 p · in · Leave Denver...... 5 05 p. 111. Arri\·e Cheyenne...... 6 00 p. 111 • . . 7 15 p. Ill. :f/i/:J..ra I was born in Meredith, New Hampshire, ~.\pril 24, 1855. My father " ·as a physician and surgeon. I was an only child. When [ was sixteen, my mother died and this ended all family life for me. I went to boarding school, studied medicine and chafed at the monotonous and humdrum life T led. I was fore»er hearing tales of adventure in the far ·west-of Indians. huffalo hunting, 10Rocky Mom lfaia iY ews, June 1, 1926. 11Ibid. " Ibid. •Mr. Moulton lives in Denve r t oday.-Ed. 100 COLORADO MAGAZINE TRADER WITH THE UTES: MURDER OF CHIEF SHAVANO 101 cowpun('hing and mmmg. My restlessness gre"·, until in 1816, her arm, would throw one skin into the scales, get the money for at the age of hYenty-one, I decided to give up my study of medi it, and spend it immediately. Then another skin would go through cine and join two young friends " ·ho \\"ere leaving for Colorado to the same process, and so on, until she had disposed of all; the purchase a ranch and try their luck in the sheep-raising industry. same money being used for many transactions. Credit 11·as not We left Boston on July 5th and arriYed in Denver on the giYen except in exceptional cases, and then for limited amounts. 12th. That summer and fall I spent on the sheep ranch helping 'l'his tribe dressed about the same as every other tribe I've my friends; I built fence, cooked, tended sheep, and helped with eYer come in contaet •l°ith: a regular white man's calico shirt of all the numberless tasks that confronted a pioneer rancher. 'l'hat gaudy pattern, buckskin leggings of full length held up by a belt, winter I taught in the small log school house near the ranch. For the next six years I roamed a bout, finding no trouble in getting work. All I wanted was to have money enough ahead to get me to the next mining excitement, or new 1·ailroad town. I didn't discover any mines or make any real money, but J grew rich in experience. In 1883, while I \Yas working in a general merchandise storP, l+. ·w. Gildenstien 's, a change occurred 1rhi('h \ms destined to affect my 11·hole future life; I \\·as offered a position as manager of a post tracler·s store at Fort 'l'hornburg, Utah. In a few days I \\·as enroute; 1 had to travel several hundred miles by train, then take stage for three days through an unsettled country. I took over the business early in April and soon adapted myself to the situation. ~\ bout six months later I became storekeeper for :\fr. Hugus at the Ouray Agency. The ·white RiYer and Uncompahgre Utes had heen moYed from Colorado to "Ctah, and were located on the west side of Green River, near the mouth of Duchesne Rive1·. It was not long before I had the business well in hand and was beginning to acquire enough Indian language so that, with the use of signs, I managed to get along with the trading. Things were usually very quiet until Saturday. On that day the Indians .\ltTBUFl C. M01-'LTO:\' came in 1o 1·eceive the rations regularly issued them by the Gov ernment. and I had my hands full. There was but little actual and moccasins. Harely was there any lwa l•'or ten clays the bustle and excitement lasted. 'l'he store was as Agent, and Buckner and Moyl, respectively, as clerk and book cr owded inside and out . Sitting on the ground all about were keeper. The transfer was accomplished without any fuss, as groups of bucks playing Sp anish Monte-winning or losing, but Major Gardner always had his affairs right up to date. We parted the expressions on their faces never changed. Indians are invet with the old officials with great regret, but soon found that the erate gamblers at this particular game. They will lose everything new men were fine fellows and they quickly fitted into the little they have and never blink an eyelash, or win with equal equanim social routine. :;\Iajor Lawson >ms a slight, sickly-looking man; ity. I presume all the money issued changed O>Yners more than in fact, I beliHe he had "T. B.," but he accepted things as they on<:e within a few days. Probably two-thirds found its way into were, never whimpering, and did his best tq learn all the angles of his new work. Some job for him, as he had never seen an Indian before, and had not the slightest idea of his duties as Agent; but after meeting him I had no fear of his making a failure. One Saturday in February the store was, as usual on that day, packed with squaws and a few of the bucks, when suddenly came a BANG! BANG !-shots from the outside. No one knew what it meant, but pandemonium broke loose, and the whole bunch crowded towards the rear, away from the door. I was badly rattled and for some reason or other had the impulse to get out of doors quickly where I could run or hide, not realizing for the moment that if there was trouble outside, I would be safer inside behind the log walls. I kept trying to push the crowd toward the door, but made little headway, when BANG! I would be shoved back again. I tried again, "·hen another shot sounded, and hack we surged to the rear. I couldn't see the door, and dicln 't under stand, until a squaw pointed through the crowd to"·ard the door. As I looked, another shot sounded and I saw the dust fly up from directly in front. Then I understood "·hy I couldn't make them go outside, and began to pull my wits together. There 11·ere more shots, then silence. The store began to clear and I finally got out. A crowd was gathered close by, everyone talking and gesticulat ing. I pushed to the center and there on the ground, wounded but still alive, was Shavano, one of the head Chiefs and also "Medicine SHAVANO Man." No one attempted to raise him, but a 11 were listening to a speech by White Wolf, a big impressive-looking Indian, "·ho stood the store money drawer, but the balante was on its way to a with a Colt's six-gun in his hand. and evidently was making a varied career. There would be no more big money for another big talk. I worked my way to his side and when he stopped talk year. The1·e was no bank within several hundred miles, and it was ing for a second, touched his arm and a8ked if they wanted the a problem ho"· to safeguard and ship m~· large accumulation of "Mericat" doctor for Shavano. Wlrnn he turned and looked at cash to my employer; but by sending small amounts at a time hy me, I 'ms indeed shaken at hi8 expression, but he nodded his head. mail, concealed in light merchandise packrts, I managed to do it I started to hunt for the Agent and found him with a group of without any losses. employees, standing on the crest of the hill, a short distance away. The year 1886 was on us before wr rcalize City post office was discontinued (188 ~ or 1880 ), it was moved to the site of the present town of \Vaiden or to the Walden Ranch nearby.6 (See also Teller City.) Walden was incorporated Decem ber 2, 1890, and became the county seat June 3, l 909.' Walsenbnrg (5,855 population), seat of Tlnerfano County since 1872, began as a little l\Iexican settlement known as La Plaza de los Leones, for Don Miguel Antonio Leon, an early settler of the local ity.8 Henry W. Jones built the first adobe house on the west side of what is now Main Street during the spring of 1866.9 On the sixth day of August, 1870, Freel \Valsen opened a general store. He was successful in this Yenture, and soon became the accepted leader of the community. ·when the Yilla!?e was incor1)orated June 16 1873 • c....· ' ' 1 it was named in his honor. 10 In October. 1887. the name was changed by postal authorities to Tourist City ;11 but inclignant citi Place Nam es in Colorado (W, X, Y, Z) * zens demanded the return of the old name. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad came in 1876, and the consef{uent cleYelorirnent of Wages (14 population). Yuma County post office communit)·. the coal mines in the region resulted in gro,Yth of the city . 1 ~ lies in an agricultural region. It was settled in 1917 by J\fid ·wages, Wapita, Summit County ghost Yillage, lay about four miles east a farmer, and named in his honor. 1 of Breckenridge.13 \Fa7Jda i'l an Tndian word mraning "elk."14 Wagon Wheel Gap (Wagon \Vheel Gap Springs) (35 popula Ward (118 population), Boulder Count,\· golc1 ancl silver camp, tion), l\1i11era l County. 'l'he primitive settlement here was a stage whose streets wind up and clown steep slopes between clusters of old station, built in J874 on the route to Lake Cit~·. Tu 1872 the mineral buildings, was named for Calvin \V. Ward. " ·ho clisc>owrecl . earh· in springs were taken up by HennT Henson, Charles E. Goodwin. 1860, the golc1-beari11g seam known as the \Varel lode.'' The i~ow Albert :Mead and Joel IC ".\Iullen, who later pre-empted HO acres. abandoned Dem·er. Boulder & Western Railroad (the Switzerland It became a popular watering place in 1877. ancl the Hot Sprinl!R Trail of America), macle dail,\- runs to \Varel. the first of the camris Hotel was built during that year.2 As to the name of the gap. opened in the iron-copper-sulphide belt.16 The srttlement "' '"'Creecle Ca11llle, November 10, 1893. "Data from D. L. Miller. Waverly, in 1939. "'Data from C. M. Lightburn, Engif\eer, Denver & Rio Grande Western Rail ""Data from Mary E. Hoyt, Librarian, Colorado School of :\lines, Golden, road, Februar~· 26, l 941, to the State Historical So<:iet) Colorado. August 25, 1941. 30 ''Data from D. D. Gross, Chief Engineer, Board of Water Commissioners, Ernma Burke Conklin, Histor.11 of Logan Co1111l.u. :i6 1 57; and Denver Tinies, Denver, March 12, 1941, and Glen Morgan, Board of 'Vater Commissioners, De Januar y 18, 1895. cember 9, 1941. 31Ansel Watrous. History of Larime1· County. 210. 2 ""Denver R ep11u liran. February 26, 1888. • Data from H. D. Pratt, Wellington, Colorado, in 1935, to the State Histori- cal Society. ''Hall, op. cit., III, 286. sacoloraclo Magazine. IX, 142. "'Data from Lucile H. Kurth, vVatkins, Dee1:mh1>r 13. 1940. 34 Coloraclo State Business Directory,_ 1882, 299. ""Data from George Hodgson, Curator, l\lpeker Museum, Greeley, Colorado. 36Coloraclo, A Gilicle to tlie Highest ;:;tate. 355. in 1939. 36Coloraclo Magazine, IX, 142. ''"'Data from the Principal of School~ " 'rn ·. <'nlorado, March 8, 1941. 31Colorado State Business Director.11. 1893, 683. 112 COLORADO MAGAZINE PLACE NAMES IN COLORADO (W, X, Y, Z) 113 overfio'' of ambitious prospectors from the Cripple Creek District, growth of timber. 4 6 John S. ·wheeler, a Colorado pioneer of 1859, it was believed that the area was a continuation of the Cripple Creek moved here with bis family in the fall of 1879, and took up a large gold belt. 'fhe little town was settled a bout 1~95 . 38 and named for hay ranch. Until the following spring, when prospectors began to the district, which in tnrn was named for \Vest Creek, a small tribu come into the valley, they '"ere the only residents.47 A post office tary of Horse Creek, flowing through the town.39 The official post was obtained b:--· :Jir. \Vheeler in April, 1880, and the settlement was office name of the settlement, however, was Pemberton, honoring the named in bis honor.4 8 first owner of the site. This name " ·as nsecl in conjunction with T\'hiskey Hole, Park County, sec Tarryall. \Vest Creek for a number of years.''0 lrhiskey Springi;, Eagle County ghost town, was named for the 11' estminster ( 534 population), Adams County. 'fhe land upon many whiskey bottles left at the water hole by trappers, hunters and which the settlement was built was original]~· owned by a Mr. Har stage coach passenger.>. It is a matter of record that many travelers ris, and when the community grew large enough to accommodate a insisted that they needed seYeral bottles of stimulant before pro store and post office. it was called Harris Park. In 1891 Stanford ceeding farther along the hazardous road.49 The village lay some White of New York organized a Presbyterian college and named it bYenty-four miles north and eighteen miles west of Redcliff.50 \Vestminster (now the Pillar of Fire Institute). The settlement was incorporated as Westminster May 24, 1911.41 ll'Mtaker (30 population), Larimer County village, was settled in 1925 when the Colorado & Southern Railway built a depot for Irest Portal, Grand Count~·. see ff inter· Park. the pur~ose of loading oil into tank cars. It was named for Ed. A. l\·eston (.'510 population). Las .Animas County, is the center of \Yhitaker, State Senator (1941 ).51 an extensive fa1·ming and lumbering district. It was settled in the \\'71ite Clo1ld, Gunnison County ghost silver-mining camp, was 1880s by a family headed by Juan Sisneros, a rancher, and though the first camp on the old Ruby Road some eight miles from Crested· scarcely more than a plaza, was given the name Los S'isneros. Late Butte, and near the base of the Ruby peaks (Ruby One and Ruby in the same decade the Rochx Mountain Timber Company used the Two ). It lay in a basin surrounded by high mountains on the sum settlement as a supply base, ~nd a number of buildings were erected. 5 mits of which clouds always rested, hence the name. " The village had no post office nntil about 1892, when Bert Weston. a blacksmith, ,,-as granted the office of postmaster; it then became lrliite Orosi;, Hinsdale County ghost gold camp, some twenty known .as Weston. 4 2 three miles south of Lake City, in the Park Mining District. "·as one of the oldest camps in the San ,J nan. 53 It was first known as ll'etmon (7.) population ). Custer Count~· yacation resort and Burrows Park, but in September, 1882, the post office was re-named stockraising and farming town. was the site of a stage coach station 5 White Cross, • for the large white cross-shaped quartz formation in pioneer days. 43 \Villiam Hayes homesteaded 160 acres here in on Whitecross Mountain (13,500 feet altitude). Durin~ 1876 and 1880. He sold to Frances Wetmore. "·hose husband, \Villiam Wet 1877 this was one of the busiest and most prosperous camps in the more, surveyed and named the townsite.44 county.' 5 5 Wheat Ridge ( 500 population), Jefferson County. The village li\"'hite Earth, Gunnison County, early name of Po"·derhorn. was named by Henry Lee (State Senator 1885-1889) about 1882. probably so called because it la:--· on White Earth Creek. (Ree also because this "·as a famed wheat growing sedion. ~\b out 187:) the Powclerhorn.) farmers began to giw up "-heat. They set out orchards and took Whitehorn, Fremont Count~· ghost to"rn, was named for Fnited np truck farming. Among the first settlers \Yere ~fartin N. Everett. States Deputy Mineral Surveyor A. L. Wbitehorn.56 It lay about member of the Colorado Con>ititutional C'mwention. Henry Lee, 57 Din-icl Brothers and Abraham Slater.4 5 Rix miles east and eight miles north of Salicla. Count~· ~host la~- ••George A. Crofutt, Cro/11tt's Grip-Sack G1'i White Pi11 c (3 population), Gunnison County, once booming ports wen~ circulated that the Santa Fe Railway would build a line silver camp and the principal center of 'l'omichi District, is today through this section of country. After considerable controversy, almost a ghost town. 'l'he first prospectors came oyer from Chaffee the new settlement was named in honor of Vv. M. \Viley, one of the 08 City in the fall of 1878; others followed, and in ] 881 a town com promoters of the town. It was incorporated January 28, 1909. pany was organized, the to"·n located, surveyed and soon incorpo Willard (105 population), Logan County, centers a farming rated.58 The picturesque name \\"aS chosen for the dense growth of and ranching district. In October, 1888, when the Burlington Rail pines reaching clown to, and verging upon, the principal street, and road was extended from Sterling to Cheyenne, the Lincoln Land and eYen clustering about the doorways of the cabins."n 'l'ownsite Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, platted and named the White Rock (25 population), Boulder Connty, a community town. Within a few years, however, many of the settlers became rather than a town, was first called \Vhite Rock l\Iill. In the late discouraged, and \Villard was almost deserted. In 1910 it was re 1860s or early 1870s, Austin Smith, in company with John ·w. platted by William A. House.69 Smith, of Denyer, established the ·white Rock flour mill at White 1findsor (1,811 population), \Veld County's second largest Rock Cliffs, six miles down Boulder Creek from the mountains. The town. In 1863 a ranch was established by the Honorable B. H. \Vhite Rock Cliffs are a large aud interesting outcropping of wind Eaton (pioneer agriculturist, and Governor of Colorado, 1884-1886 ) carved white sandstone. Go on the site of present \Vindsor,70 and in 1880 the post office here "·as Whitewater (125 population ), Mesa County ranehing villagc>, called New Liberty.'' In January, 1884, the name was changed by " ·as one of the earliest settlements in the count)-. The extensiYe postal authorities to Xew \Vindsor,72 but the town was incorporated cattle range was the magnet which drew pioneers to this district. as \Vindsor, April 15, lS!JO. It was named in honor of the Reverend .l\Iesa County's fruit industry originated herr, when the first orchard A. S. Windsor, of Fort Collins, a Methodist circuit minister. Wind 73 was planterl in \Vhitewater. 'l'he name \Vhitewater, from ·white sor was a close friend of E. Hollister, founder of the town. \rater Creek, applies to the surrounding territory as well as to the Winnview (3 population), Arapahoe County post office village. town. 61 'l'he post office "·as established in Xovember. 1884.62 During the spring of 1932 a young couple named \Vinn established 1riggins (275 population), ~forgan County, was named for a small general merchandise store here, and a year later the sur ~Iajor OliYer P. Wiggins, commonl_,. caller1 "Olrl Rcont" Wiggins.63 rounding settlers petitioned for a post office. From the several A Canadian by birth, and at one time an employee of the Hudson's names suggested, the postal authorities selected \Vinnview for the 74 Da~· Compan)·, l\Ir. ·Wiggins came to Colorado as early as 183-t He new office. \\·as \Yith Fremont during one of his cross-country expeditions. and Winona, Larimer County ghost village. In 1876, rumors of the "·as well known on the 0Yerlanc1 Stage Line during the 1860s. He coming of the 1.7nion Pacific brought a number of merchants and finally settled in Colorado; became wealth)·. then lost eYerything.64 farmers to the newl)·-platted town of St. Louis, officially known as Th e town, first called Vallery, then Corona,n" hecame \Yiggins about \Vinona. During the summer and fall of that year it ·was a bustling 1894.66 place, man~' buildings "·ere erected, and tl1e foundations laid for l\'ild Horse. Cheyenne Count)·. rleriwd its name from a near-b)· many more, but the hopes of the little town were doomed. David <:reek. once a watering place for immense bands of wild horses. Lieu Barnes secured the crossing of the railroad a mile west of Winona, tenant Pike reported sighting such a hand in rno6; when they saw and in the fall of 1877, when the road was completed, the town of 75 Pike's party they came charging up. "making the earth tremble Loveland came into existence. The buildings of \Vinona, almost nrnler them like a charge of cavalry. " 117 without exception, were moYecl there.7 6 See also Loveland. W ilcy ( 41:1 population ), Prowers Count~- farming center and Winter Park (100 population ), Grand Count)·. came into exist poultry-shipping 11oint. \Yas lrnilt during the earl)· 1900s, \\·hen re- ence in 1923. as a construction camp for the l\Iofl'at Tunnel. It "·as '•'Hall, op. cit .. l\'. 151; Colornllo .llayaoi11e, XTTl 11~-118. "'Data from Carol Sincox, \\' iley Consolidated Sehool. \\"iley. November 14. '·"State Historical Society, Pamphlet 350, Xo. fi1; , 1935, to the State Historical Society. 00Data from Clarence L. Spears, Boulder. \'olonuln, Ft>hruao· ~8. J 941. ""Emma Burke Conklin, History of Logan Co1111ty. 173. ainata fron1 Edna Ta\vney, Field Staff \Vritt>r, Grand .Junction, Colorado, in 7•Hall, op. cit., I\', 348. 19 39. 71 Frank Fossett, Colorado, JP.80, l 95. "'Denver Re1mblira11. NO\·ember 2Q, 188~ 12Denver Tribnnc. January 24, 1884. 63Eugene Parsons, A_ GuidP Book' to rnlonllln, 2411. "'Data from Iola Branch, Librarian, \Yindsor. to the State Historical Society. ••Frank A. Root and \Yilliam E. CornH•lle\, Tl1P rn·e,.lallcl to ('alif01·- Stage "Data from the Principal of \\'inm·iew' School, in l 935, to the State Historical nia, 472. Society. ll5Parsons, O/J. rit .. 240. '"Fo1·t Collins Exvrcss. Industrial Edition, 1894. i;eco lora